Hampton VA christens women's clinic

— Friday's ribbon-cutting at the Hampton VA Medical Center marked more than the opening of the new Women's Clinic. It was a testament to the changing face of the region's veteran population.

With the snip of a scissors, the Hampton VA tripled the space dedicated to the care of women veterans. The $3.5 million, 11,500-square-foot outpatient facility will consolidate medical and mental health care under one roof.

To hear VA officials tell it, the clinic won't be lacking for business.

The population of women veterans in southeastern Virginia is more than double the national average. The Hampton VA serves the largest number of women veterans of any facility in the VA's Mid-Atlantic Healthcare Network, which covers portions of Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina and includes eight VA medical centers.

Hampton has seen a 20 percent increase in women patients from fiscal year 2010 to 2012. At present, women make up 23 percent of the Hampton patients from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"We want this facility to be worn out by the foot traffic," said Daniel Hoffmann, director of the Mid-Atlantic network. "Vote with your feet."

Patients are changing

The changing nature of war has changed the patient population at Hampton and elsewhere. The days of female troops being relegated to support positions or rear lines are long gone. In Iraq and Afghanistan, women have routinely served as military police officers, gunners on vehicle convoys or other positions that put them in harm's way.

Like their male counterparts, many have returned home with physical injuries and unseen mental wounds.

Twenty percent of women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, according to VA statistics. Another 20 percent of women patients seen by VA health care providers respond "yes" when screened for military sexual trauma.

Women veterans of previous generations who attended Friday's ceremony welcomed the opening of the new building.

"It means an awful lot, and I've been begging for it – I don't know how many years," said Mary Beaver of Newport News, a 20-year Army veteran who retired in 1974 and served as Virginia commander of Disabled American Veterans.

"This is more spread out," added Betty Miller, a DAV member from Norfolk and a 17-year Navy veteran. "It's spacey, roomy, great for wheelchairs and people with canes."

Designed to help

Putting women-related services under one roof has a number of advantages, said Patrice Malena, Women Veterans Program manager at Hampton.

One wing is dedicated to primary care and gynecology. The "space, roomy" feeling Miller spoke of should be evident to new patients: No longer will a doctor have an office that doubles as an exam room. Separate rooms are provided.

Another area is set aside for mental health with offices for psychologists, social workers and others. It includes a room for art therapy.

Now, if a primary care doctor senses that a patient needs a mental health evaluation, "they can get someone over to talk to them that day, that minute, in that room and offer them whatever services they need," Malena said.

The building has an on-site pharmacy. Even the interior color scheme of muted greens and off-whites was run past a focus group of women veterans for their approval.

Challenges, progress

The new clinic "will lead the way through a cultural transformation for the VA," said Benita K. Stoddard, acting director of the center. It is a transformation several years in the making.

In 2008, only 33 percent of VA health care facilities offered fully comprehensive primary care to women veterans, according to a VA report. That same report noted that primary care for women was fragmented over multiple sites and providers. Insufficient numbers of clinicians had specific training and experience in women's health issues.

Medical care wasn't the only concern, In 2009, Sen. Mark R. Warner secured funding for a study on how the VA treated women with PTSD. Part of the concern: Women who returned home from the battlefield were still judged as the caring nurturers of the family, making it even harder to deal with feelings of isolation and depression.

VA officials say they have made progress in reducing the inequalities in care between men and women –a gap that exists in the private sector as well. The VA released a study earlier this year citing improved performance in several areas in caring for women. Meanwhile, a 2010 change in policy allowed more women – and more men, for that matter – to qualify for PTSD benefits.

This isn't Hampton's first step forward for women veterans. In November 2011, it opened a new mammography service. It has extended hours at clinics, making it easier for mothers to schedule visits around child care.

The new women's clinic makes Hampton only the second facility in the VA's Mid-Atlantic Healthcare Network with a free-standing facility female veterans, said Shenekia Williams-Johnson, the Women Veterans Program manager for that region.

The region's other separate facility for women is in Durham, N.C.

Female veterans

14.5 percent of all active-duty military

18 percent of all National Guard and Reserves

6 percent of VA health care users

12 percent of soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan

160,000 to 337,000: growth in number of women veterans from 2000 to 2011